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Sunday, March 6, 2016

Video games are not something I normally touch on. I used to be a huge gamer, but growing up, I don’t make much time for them anymore. Even though I have compiled a list of the best driving games, I now spend some of my time creating the audio for them. Some of you may know that I am a sound guy.

I am a voice actor for a game that will be coming out soon called “Epocylipse: The AfterFall”. One of the things that really interest me about the game are the unique vehicles that will be available in the game. After attending some of the development meetings, I started seeing some conceptual drawings of these vehicles, and all I can say is that they are badass!

First off, a bit about the game. It takes place about sixty years after civilization as the future knows it has been destroyed. The year is about 2200, so technology has changed, and we can see that in these vehicles.

Everything is battery powered. Gone are the internal combustion engines. Also gone are tires as we know it. Everything that has a tire has an airless tire. Companies today, such as Bridgestone, are making airless tires, so this is something we can expect to see in the future. Some of the vehicles ditch tires all together and use antigravity pads and hover.

Here is where things get a little disappointing though. Apparently these vehicles are not designed for speed. “Epocylipse: The AfterFall” is a turn based game, and apparently these vehicles are only really designed to move the player a bit more than if he or she was on foot.

That aside, they are supposed to be quite customizable. Players will be able to increase the battery capacity, add more firepower, and more. So, even if they are slow, if I can shoot machine guns from them, I think that will make up for it. I have been told that eventually the vehicles will be able to have custom paint jobs and decals as well. That would be a really unique way to make these things your own!

So, living in world full of combat, theft, raids, and more, these things are built to be tough. They are all pretty much combat vehicles in their own way. Based off the drawings, even the ones designed for transport have solid metal sides. I really get a feel of “Red Faction: Guerrilla” when I look at these things.

I would say that one of the most interesting features I have heard will happen is a visible load feature. Basically, if players add gear, looted items, or whatever onto their vehicles, you will be able to see that. I have seen in the past where if you add something to a vehicle, there might be one of two different animations to show that there is stuff in the vehicles, or you may never see anything at all (like in “State of Decay” and many other games). So this little thing adds such a big way to envelope you into the game. Those are the things that I like to see in games: those tiny details that make such a difference.